Belt splicer



I. IVI. PRUDDEN.

BELTISPLICER. APPLICATION FILED FEB.2I. 1921.

11,436,724; I Patented Nov. 28,1922.

7 v. I s Flgl.,

l .r y 5255,/ A

Patented Nov. 28, 1922.

Tnnonoiafn M. r'nunnnn, or GRAFTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

:BELT SPLICER.

Application mea February 21, 192i. serial in. 446,648.

To all coi/toncit mayconccrit: i

Be it known that I, Trrnononn M.` PRUD- DnN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and resident of Grafton, county of Worcester, `State ofMassachusetts, have invented an Improvement in BeltSplicers, of whichthe following description, in connection, with the accompanyingdrawingyis a specification, like characters on` the drawing representinglike .10 parts.

j This invention relates toimprovements in belt splicers and the objectthereof is to provide a novel and simplified one-piece metallic ldevicefor splicing belts, particularly such .1,5 lbelts as the tapes which areused fory driving the spindles of spinning or twisting machines. l j

The usual method of splicing tapes for spinning machines and many otherbelts consists in lapping over `,the edges ofthe tape or belt to bespliced `and sewing the overlappedportionsof the belt together by afportable sewing vmachinel rlhe splice thus formed requires about 2inches of tape to A form the joint and the sewing of the same isdiijlicult after the tape has beenlapped over the several pulleys whichit drives as ,but little slack is available to allow manipulation of thetape ink the `sewing machines.

. -llhen the tape wearsit usually breaks at, the

sewed joint. The tape is then too short to be used unless a piece isspliced into it. The

splicing of tapes in this manner, in any event, requires the use of askilled sewing machine operator and considerable time is consumed intransporting the sewing machine from place to place about the spinningor twisting room.

The present invention contemplates the `40 production of a metallic tapesplicer which will fasten `together the ends of the belt without thenecessity of having extended overlapping ends. j

In. the splicing of such belts as tapes for spinning and'twistingmachines and the like it is desirable that vthe strength of the spliceor joint shall not exceed that of the tape itself so that if anybreakage occurs it shall be in the splice.` rlhe present invention is kdesigned to produce a splice which will give way under less strain thanthat which would be required to break the tape and which can be readilyreplaced without the necessity of splicing on an additional piece oftape.

In am aware that heretofore metallic splicers have been used, but suchsplicers `have consisted of two or more parts which have to beassembled. `Such devices require more or less skill in assembling andthe parts thereof frequently become lost so that con siderabledifficulty is encountered in using them.

The object of the present invention is to provide a one-piece `metallicbelt splicer which can be readily applied by the usual operator of thespinning machine. t

A further object of the invention is to provide a metallic belt splicerwhich will grip `the end portions of the belt ywitha toggle-likeclamping action when the belt splicer is appliedthereto. y

A further object of the invention is to provide a belt splicer of thecharacter described which will lie upon the outer face of the belt andwhich `will not contact with either the face or the flanges of thedriving pulleys when in use. i.

A further feature of the invention consists in providing abelt splicer'of the character `specified in which the body of the belt splicer willcover andv conceal the ends of the belt which are being securedtogether.

Other objects andy features of the invention will more fully appear fromthe following description. and the annexed drawings and will be pointedout in the accompanying claims.

Preferred embodiments of my invention areillustrated in the annexeddrawings, in which,

Fig. l is a perspective view of one form of a one-piece metallic tapesplicer in position to be appliedto the ends of the tape;

Fig. 2 is avertical longitudinal sectional view through the joint formedby the tape splicer;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a different form of tape splicerembodying my invention;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view through the tape splicer andtape showing the oint made by the splicer illustrated in Fig. 3;

,Fig 5 is a detail view showing the tape endete be spliced inserted inthe tape splicer in the 4position in which the splicer is adaptedto beclamped upon the tape, the jaws of the clamping instrument being shownincross section.;

Fig. 6 isa similar view illustrating the CIK joint formed when the tapesplicer has been clamped upon the tape by the jaws of the clamping tool;and,

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a clamping tool showing the manner inwhich the splicer is applied to the tape.

The tape splicer which is illustrated in Fig. 1 comprises a b-ody 1,preferably of sheet metal, which is desirably of slightly less widththan the width of the tape to be spliced, 'and provided with `a centralrectangular opening 2 to receive the ends 3 and 4 of the tape `or belt.The body portion 1 is provided with upturned ends 5 and 6 whichdesirably converge toward each other. One tof the sides ofthe bodyportion desirably is provided with an integral extension 7 of a widthslightly less than the distance between the bases of the upturned ends 5and '6, theeXtension 7 being connected to said side by a relativelynarrow strip 8 which is `easily bent to enable the extension 7 to befolded ldown between the ends 5 and 6.

The extension 7 is bent into the form of an arch or an inverted V sothat the sides 9 and 10 thereof form angularly disposed clampingelements, the edges of which are adapted to engage the end portions ofthe `tape and when bent toward parallelism with Ythe base, or toward thesame plane, will produce a toggle-like action which will clamp the endsof the belt firmly against therupturned ends v5 and 6 ofthe bodyportion.

The ends 5 and 6 may then be bentdownwardly to cover the ends of thetape and Ato aid in retaining the clamping elements rigidly in clampingposition.

By reason of this arched or V-shaped construction ofthe extension 7 theclamping elements 9 and 10 are in effect eXtensible, since as theextension v7 is bent toward parallelism with the base the edges of the`clamping elements are forced outwardly away from each other into theclamping relation with the lianges of the body portion above described.

Another embodiment of the same inventive idea is illustrated in Figs. 3,4, 5, 6 and '7 in which the tape splice is in the form of a sheet metalpiece having a body 11 and upwardly turned flanges 12 and 13 which arethe clamping elements and are disposed in Vangular rela-tion to the baseand to each other.y When the clamping elements 12 and 13 are, bentdownwardly toward parallelism with vthe base, and consequently towardparallelism with each other, the adjacent edges 11l and 15 are forcedtoward each other and grip the ends of the belt, which are placed`between them, with a toggle-like action.

The manner in ywhich the splicer, illustrated in Fig. 3, is applied tothe ends of the tape is illustrated in Figs. 5, 6 and 7 in which theclamping tool is illustrated as a pair of pliers having jaws 16 and 17,the

jaw 17 being provided with an open ended slot 18 of suificient width toreceive the two ends of the belt to be spliced.

In operation the ends of the belt are slipped edgewise into the slotI18, a suflicient amount ofthe tape protruding between the jaws toprovide a suitable anchorage for the splicer. The splicer is thenslipped endwise over the ends 'of the tape as illustrated in F ig. 5-The clamping jaws of the pliers are then squeezed together causing theclamping elements 12 and 13 to be bent toward the base 11. As 'theclamping yelements 12 and 13 are thus bent toward the Vbase 11 theadjacent edges are lcaused to approach each other and yengage the outerfaces ofthe ends of the tape with a togglelike :action increasing inpressure as V)said elements approach parallelism or alinement. When thetape splicer has been fully .compressed upon ythe ends of the tape-:theends are wholly enclosed within the splicer.

It will be noted that in `splicing a `tape by either of theconstructions above described the splicer will lie wholly upon theoutside of the tape and will, therefore, not come in contact with theface of the pulley.` By forming the belt splicer of less vlength thanthe width of the tape the 'edges of the splicer will be prevented fromengaging the {ianges of the driving pulley. l y

When the splice formed by ra splicer of the character above describedbecomes broken a new splicer may be readily 'applied since at most onlya ver short vportion of 4one or rboth of the ends of the Ibelt or 'tapewill be broken off or will -need to be removed and the stretching oft'he tape or belt when in use wil-l readily tsupply the additionalamount of stock required for the application of a new splicer.

Belt'splicers of this character may also be employed for taking up theslack, in such belts as driving tape for kspinning machine spindles, bymerely forming a 'bight in the loose belt and forcing the same upwardlythrough the jaws of the splicing tool and applying the splicer to saidbight in a manner above described.

It will be understood that the embodiments Aof the invention disclosedhereinare illustrative and Vnot restrictive and that various changes inform and `construction `may be made within the spirit and scope oftheinvention covered by the following claims which are intended to coverany form of one-piece belt splicers in which the clamping elements'exert a toggle-like l'action upon the end portions of the belt or tapewhich are to be secured together.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and vdesire 'tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A belt splicer comprising a base `adapted to cover the ends of thebelt'to be spliced,

pliable gripping elements disposed in angular relation to said baseadapted, when said elements are bent toward parallelism, to exert atoggle-like clamp-ing action upon the ends of the belt and also to clampthe end portions of the belt against said base.

2. A one-piece belt splicer, adapted to cover the ends of the belt to bespliced together, comprising a member having extensible angularlydisposed elements provided With belt-engaging edges adapted to engagethe saine face of the end portions oi' the belt and operating when benttoward the same plane to exert a toggle-like clamping action upon theengaged ends of the belt Which will clamp the end portions of the beltagainst each other between said belt engaging edges and Will also clampthe ends of the belt against said base.

3. A belt splicer comprising a metallic plate bent transversely intosubstantially U- shape and presenting angularly converging elementshaving their edges spaced apart to receive the parts of the belt to beunited therebetween and adapted, when bent toward the saine plane, toclamp the parts of the belt therebetween and against each other with atoggle-like clamping action.

In testimony whereof7 I have signed my name to this speciiication.

THEODORE M. PRUDDEN.

